1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to distributed computer systems, and more specifically, the invention relates to methods and systems to provide relative measurements of elements of distributed computer systems.
2. Prior Art
Vendors, consultants, and outsourcers have been searching for a method to normalize the size and function of servers, such as UNIX and Intel servers, with regard to the labor required to support them. This is a critical requirement because if one has a method to do this, then one can compare the labor to support one set of servers to another and account for the difference in relative sizes and functions of the servers.
Attempts have been made to use performance benchmarks to measure the relative size of servers e.g., SPECMarks from the SPEC organization or TPC-Cs from the TPC organization. These are impractical to use for the following reasons. The algorithms used are tied to current technology. As the technology changes, a new algorithm is published. For example, the original SPEC algorithm was targeted to uniprocessor systems. As multiprocessor system were developed, that algorithm was replaced with a newer one. Another reason that these prior art approaches are impractical is that they are published for a very small subset of servers. There is, accordingly, an important need for a method to measure all servers.